Revealed: The most popular baby names in Ireland

Murphy was the most common surname for babies born in 2022, according to new data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on babies’ names in 2022.

Jack is once again Ireland’s most popular boys’ name — taking top spot for the sixth consecutive year — while Emily became the most popular girls’ name for the first time since 2019.

Murphy was the most common surname for babies born in 2022, according to new data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on babies’ names in 2022.

Jack and James have been in the top five boys' names since 1998 and both have maintained their position at first and third respectively.

Grace retained its position as the second most popular girls’ name in 2022 while Fiadh fell two places, from first in 2021 to third in 2022.

“Jack has retained the top spot as the most popular baby boys’ name in 2022, a position it has held for every year since 2007, except for 2016, when James was the most popular choice of name,” Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Vital Statistics Section of the CSO, said.

“Noah and James are the other two boys’ names which make up the top three in 2022."

The top five names for boys in 2022 were: 

• Jack
• Noah
• James
• Rían
• Charlie

“Emily once again occupied the number one position as most popular girls’ name in Ireland for the first time since 2019. Grace, Fiadh, Sophie, and Lily were the other four girls’ names which made up the five in 2022," said Mr O'Connor.

“In 2021, Fiadh claimed the top spot for baby girls for the first time, followed by Grace, Emily, Sophie, and Éabha. Grace, Emily, and Sophie have been permanent fixtures in the top five names for baby girls for every year since 2016.

“Blake and Cody are the two new entrants into the top 100 boys’ names for 2022. Looking at new entrants for girls, four new entrants appeared, which were Hailey, Phoebe, Ayda, and Éala.

The top five names for girls in 2022 were: 

• Emily
• Grace
• Fiadh
• Sophie
• Lily

Mr O'Connor said Noah was the top or joint top boys’ name in 10 locations which includes areas such as Donegal and Cork City.

“While John was the most popular boys' name in 1972, in 2022 it occupied the 36th position. For girls, Mary was the most popular name 50 years ago, whereas in 2022 it ranked 87th. 

"There were 64 babies given the name of Mary in 2022. Interestingly, James is the only name which appears in the top five boys’ names in both 1972 and 2022.” 

There were 8,982 distinct new-born names registered in 2022.

There is a wider variety in the names registered for girls, with 4,966 girls' names in 2022 compared with 4,016 for boys.

In Cork county, Jack was the most popular boys' name and in Cork City, Noah won top spot last year.

In Waterford, Noah was the most popular while Jack was the most chosen name in both Limerick and Tipperary.

Both Noah and Jack were tried for the top spot in Co Kerry.

Muhammad became the most popular boys’ name in Galway City in 2022 and ranked 86th nationally with a total of 72 births registered.

For girls, Emily was the most popular girls' name in Cork county while in Cork City, it was Freya.

In Kerry, five girls' names tied for the top spot  — Croía, Ellie, Freya, Grace, Siún.

In Limerick City, Zoey was the most popular while in Limerick county, Fiadh and Sophie were.

Anna was the most popular girls name in Tipperary while Grace was in Waterford.

Oliver was the most popular boys’ name for parents of UK nationality.

New entrants

Rían was a new entrant to the top five in 2021 and rose one place to fourth most popular boys' name in 2022.

Charlie entered the top five for the first time, rising from seventh in 2021 to fifth in 2022. Conor left the top five in 2022, falling from fourth in 2021 to 13th in 2022.

Emily rose from third most popular girls' name in 2021 to the most popular in 2022.

Grace remained at second place in 2022. Fiadh fell two places, from first in 2021 to thrid in 2022. Sophie is the fourth most popular name for the fifth year in a row while Lily rose from ninth place in 2021 to firth place in 2022, returning to the top five for the first time since 2012.

Tomás was the name rising most in popularity, jumping from 119th place to 77th between 2021 and 2022.

Éala has grown most in popularity, rising from 177th place in 2021 to 91st in 2022, a jump of 86 places in rank.